


Scared to be Lonely

by The_Stars_Who_Listen



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Arm Wrestling, Bands, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Cheerleader Adora (She-Ra), Crying, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hordak is arguably worse though in here, Horde Prime is a Prick, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Musician Catra (She-Ra), Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Super Pal Trio (She-Ra), The Horde is a band, Vines, Waitress Adora (She-Ra), Waitress Catra (She-Ra), but dont worry they're happy tears, it's not a main character tho, like srsly someone go give this girl a cuddle, most of the time anyway, no beta - we die like men, petition to make that a real tag, razz owns the diner where they work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:21:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Stars_Who_Listen/pseuds/The_Stars_Who_Listen
Summary: Seventeen year old competitive cheerleader Adora Swordsmith is forced to leave everything she knows behind when she has to move with her guardians, Mara and Hope, from New York several states over to Etheria. What a shitty upgrade. The town is in the middle of fuck-knows-where on the edge of the "Whispering Woods" and the only reason Adora isn't complaininghardis because they're moving in with her grandmother Razz who she adores. Not that she isn't complaining at all.But soon school starts and Adora begins to wonder if maybe the move wasn't so bad. The chear squad is super nice, she has two best friends who totally support her and the teachers seem pretty cool.That is until she meets Catra, the school's resident bad-girl and mysterious musician. Suddenly, nothing really makes sense anymore. One minute they're laughing with each other, the next they're laughingateach other. And what's this weird butterfly feeling inside her chest she gets whenever Catra looks at he-Oh.Oh.Ohno...
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 251





	1. Chapter 1

The baby was crying again.

Adora groaned and turned over to face the wall in her short, lumpy, single bed, covering her ears with her pillow to muffle the sounds of the wails.

This was the third time this week that the baby had woken her up in the middle of the night crying and it was quickly becoming a habit that Adora was not enjoying. Baby Sasha was annoying enough as it was when it was daytime, now she had to ruin Adora’s sleeping time as well? Nuh-uh. Not fair.

In all the eight years she had been alive, Adora had never had to share a house with a baby before, but if all of them were like this then it made her wonder why adults kept making them. All Sasha did was eat, sleep, poop and cry. She couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about.

Thankfully the soft footsteps of her foster mother echoed out across the hall outside the door over to the room where Sasha was screaming and her wails slowly quietened to short cries then softened to nothing. The sweet sound of silence. A flick of a light-switch off and her foster mother was gently padding back to her room across the hall.

Finally, Adora relaxed. At last she could go back to sleep. It was of course that very moment that the boy in the bed across from her decided to let out a loud snore. And another.

And another.

It was official.

Adora. Was going. To die.

Bitterness rose in the back of her throat as she hugged he knees to her chest under the light duvet.

The new foster home was awful and she was going to make sure she complained to Ms. Mathews the next time she came for one of her ‘check ups’. No baby’s next time, they were dumb.

~~~

Adora stared up into the pretty face of the stranger in confusion. “What do you mean no more Ms. Mathews? Where’d she go?”

The young woman smiled though she looked a little awkward in the sitting room of their house with all of Adora’s foster family staring at her. “Don’t worry, nothing bad. She just got a bit too old to work so she had to stop. My name is Mara and I’m going to be your new social worker.” Ms. Mara bent down onto her hunkers and held out a hand for Adora to shake.

Adora considered for a moment and pulled a piece of her hair into her mouth to chew on while she thought about it.

It made sense, she supposed. Ms. Mathews was absolutely ancient, probably around sixty-seven years old, with small wrinkles all over her hands and at the corners of her eyes. Adora wasn’t that sad to see her go, she’d only been her social worker for the last two years. Adora had never particularly liked her and she was pretty sure that Ms. Mathews felt the same way—whenever she saw Adora she would always wear this frown that said ‘what have you done now?’ Plus she never took Adora’s side on things. She hadn’t meant to break those two old flower vases in her last foster home, honest, but of course Ms. Mathews didn’t believe her. Adora knew she didn’t. Nobody ever believed her.

She looked at Ms. Mara and the outstretched hand. She seemed to be growing more and more uncomfortable the longer Adora went without shaking it. Maybe she would be different to Ms. Mathews. She was already way younger and way prettier so that was a good start. Adora slowly reached out a hand and took Ms. Mara’s giving it one firm shake.

The smile returned to Ms. Mara’s face for a second before her eyes flitted around the room to the other members of Adora’s current foster family.

“Tell you what,” Ms. Mara said. “How about you and I go out for some ice cream together?” Adora’s eyes widened while Ms. Mara turned to Adora’s foster parents. “You don’t mind do you?”

They hesitated. Adora started jumping up and own excitedly, “Oh please Sarah! Please Peter! I promise I’ll be really good from now on and I’ll do all my homework well and I won’t get into trouble and I’ll keep my half of the room really tidy and put away all the clothes at the end of my bed and-”

“I suppose…just this once,” her foster mother relented. “But remember Adora you still have your homework to do tonight-”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Adora yelled and turned to Ms. Mara who gave her a wink.

“Come on, squirt,” she said. “I know the perfect place.” She looked up at Adora’s foster parents, “I’ll have her back by five o’clock.”

Adora happily skipped after Ms. Mara out the door to her car without looking back at her family. Her foster brother Tommy was probably sick with jealousy. They were never allowed to get ice cream except for special occasions and especially ice cream that didn’t come from a tub.

It was official. Ms. Mara was the coolest person ever.

~~~

Adora’s eyes were as wide as saucers when [their order](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=3NkG%2f8Wp&id=8FC2568E0FDE6AF168F519D4B9F84E9AA07406C1&thid=OIP.3NkG_8Wp8a5FM5mNlC5lbwHaH6&mediaurl=http%3a%2f%2fwomen.girlstalkinsmack.com%2fimage%2f1410%2fRecipe+For+A+Month+Of+Sundae_2.jpg&exph=687&expw=643&q=whizz-choc-pop+super+sundae&simid=608017517414057782&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0) came, so much so that Ms. Mara let out a laugh when she saw her face.

The Whizz-choc-pop super sundae. An ice cream sundae with popcorn, milk chocolate buttons, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, popping candy and raspberries. Something her foster mother Sarah would never let her order in a million years. In fact, Adora was pretty sure her foster parents would have had a heart attack if they could see her. “It’s beautiful…” she whispered.

Ms. Mara grinned. “You sure you’re gonna be able to finish it all?”

Adora puffed out her chest. They were both seated in a red retro style booth in an ice-cream parlour Ms. Mara had told her had the best ice creams this side of New York City. On their right they could see everyone walking by through the massive shop window.

“Pfffft. Oh yeah. I once beat Mandy Mulligan in my class in a water chugging competition where we had to drink a whole bottle of water without stopping before everyone else had finished counting to fifteen.”

Ms. Mara raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Mandy Mulligan, huh? That’s some serious stuff. You’ll be ready for the big leagues in no time, squirt.”

Adora grinned shyly.

“So. Adora,” Ms. Mara continued. “Today is really just about me getting to know you. But I figured that’s no fun, right?” Adora frowned but nodded anyway. She wasn’t sure where Ms. Mara was going with this. “So I thought we might play a game instead!” Adora perked up. She loved games! Not to brag, but she was currently her class’ number one champion eye-spy-er and she hadn’t earned her title for nothing, thank you very much.

Ms. Mara laughed when Adora told her as much. Adora decided that she like Ms. Mara’s laugh. It was loud and warm and made Adora smile with pride to know that she had caused it.

“Well I guess I’ll just have to watch out when I play games with you then,” Ms. Mara said. “Looks like you’re already two steps ahead of me. But you can’t win this one, I’m afraid. It’s called twenty questions. I ask you a question about something and you ask me a question and we both have to answer honestly until we get to twenty. That sound good?”

Adora nodded eagerly. Oh she was so going to win this game. She was going to be so honest Ms. Mara wouldn’t know what hit her. 

“Okay,” Ms. Mara started, thinking. “What’s your favourite subject in school?”

“Easy. PE.”

“Why’s that?”

Adora shrugged. “I like running around and doing all the sports we do. They’re fun.” She thought about it for a second more. “And I like winning things. You can’t win things in Geography. It’s boring.”

Ms. Mara nodded while she sipped on her milkshake and Adora paused to eat a spoonful of her sundae. “Those are some good reasons,” Ms. Mara said.

“Now me!” Adora exclaimed. She wiggled in her seat while chewing on a strand of her hair, thinking up a question. “How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-six. Just out of college.”

“How come Ms. Mathews was so old and you’re not?”

Ms. Mara shrugged. “She’s just been doing this for a long time, I guess.”

And so the game continued until they had long lost track of what number question they were on. Ms. Mara would ask a question then Adora would and that was how it went. By the end, Adora knew lots of things about Ms. Mara, like how she lived with her sister Hope, her favourite colour was blue, and she loved puppies. And Ms. Mara knew lots of stuff about her too! Like how she loved watching hockey on TV and that she always secretly wanted a dog and how the first tooth she lost was one of her front ones meaning she had a lisp for days afterwards.

“Well Adora,” Ms. Mara said when their food was long gone and neither could think of any more questions to ask. “I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed this.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. I’ve had a lot of fun. But now I think it’s time I take you back home. After all, you do have all that homework you were telling me about to do.”

“But Ms. Maaaaaaraaaaa… It’s Geography. And I hate Geography!”

“Sorry, squirt,” she chuckled. “I don’t make the rules.” She stood up out of the booth and offered a hand to Adora. “Come on. I’ve already paid and your parents probably think I’ve kidnapped you by this stage. It’s way after five.”

Adora looked up at Ms. Mara and felt a wave of emotion suddenly. Here was someone…who had enjoyed spending time with her. Who wasn’t forced to live with her like Tommy or Peter or Sarah or any of the other foster families she had had before and who had talked to her like an actual person. Who…liked her. Who listened to her and didn’t think she was lying half the time. Adora stared at the hand for a second before completely ignoring it and going for a hug instead, catching Ms. Mara off-guard. It took a second but soon her hands came to rest on Adora’s back. “Thank you for listening to me,” she sniffled into Ms. Mara’s suit jacket and to her horror, sobs began to rattle through her chest like wind through an empty can.

Ms. Mara was instantly on kneeling on the grimy floor to wipe away her tears. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. There’s no need to cry.”

Embarrassment rushed through Adora and she furiously started scrubbing at her eyes to dry them while her face absolutely burned right to the tips of her ears. She was positive she was so red she could probably be mistaken for one of the raspberries on top of the sundaes at this point. She was suddenly hyper-aware of everyone in the other booths staring at her and her embarrassment for causing a scene only tripled.

“Hey.” Ms. Mara gently tilted her chin up so that Adora had no choice but to look directly into her eyes. “There’s no need to be embarrassed. Crying is normal.” Adora only looked down at the ground in shame and she sighed. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Adora hesitated before nodding.

“I was a foster kid too when I was your age. Me and my sister. We were all each other had.”

“Really?” Adora whispered wetly.

“Mhmm. And then we were adopted. And I know you don’t realise it Adora but you are a very special girl. You’re kind and funny and smart and talented and somewhere out there is a family just waiting for you to land on their doorstep so they can adopt you.”

“You think?”

It seemed unbelievable to Adora that there was a perfect family out there for her at this stage. She had been bouncing around from home to home for two years now with no luck. In some houses she had tried doing everything right by the book and in some she had been cheeky and acted out but no matter what she did or tried, it never mattered. Nobody ever wanted her for long. And sometimes she blamed the world and most of the time she blamed herself. So somewhere along the line she had just given up hope of finding someone who would adopt her.

Ms. Mara enveloped one of Adora’s hands with her own. “I know.”

Adora sniffled again and wiped away some snot that had started dribbling out of her nose. “Thanks Ms. Mara.”

Ms. Mara ruffled her hair in response. “No problem, squirt. And hey, it’s just Mara. ‘Ms. Mara’ makes me feel some stuffy old lady.”

Adora hesitated. In one of her old foster families, the mother had been really strict on manners and respect. She had had all of them address everyone as ma’am or sir or Ms until it was ingrained in Adora’s very being. But looking up at Ms—at Mara…maybe Adora could make an exception this one time.

~~~

Four months later Adora was kicked out of that house. Mara took her to the zoo that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo, chapter 1 has arrived!
> 
> Please let me know what you all think of this, I crave your feedback.
> 
> This chapter and the next one are pretty much just background and context on the whole fic before we get into the _real_ content. 
> 
> In case you were wondering, the underlined words in the fic are links to images from pinterest, google and the likes of. I'm a pretty visual person and I like to be able to imagine what I'm reading. So if you see a link, click on it and you'll see the image I had in mind when I was writing. There weren't so many in this chapter but there'll be more in ones to come.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying it so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some moments during Adora's life with Mara and Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I _was_ going to initially wait until Tuesday to post this one but I was honestly so blown away by all the love I got for this fic on the first chapter (like wow guys I'm literally crying in the club rn) that I went fuck it. So yay, you guys get this a few days earlier than planned, surprise!
> 
> Some background: Mara and (Light) Hope are sisters who grew up in the foster system until they eventually met Madame Razz and she adopted them. Hope is three years older than Mara. They were raised by Razz in Etheria but they both moved to New York later on in life to pursue their careers. 
> 
> Because of her experience in the system, Mara decided to become a social worker to help other kids who were in the same situation she was as a child. (Light) Hope on the other hand went on to join the army after high school and left after four years of service to study law. The year they meet Adora (when she is ten) is her first year working as a real lawyer for the the Crystal Castle Law Firm but by the time they leave for Etheria because of a huge promotion offer (when Adora is seventeen) she has become one of the top lawyers in the firm.

Over the next two years, Mara and Adora became close. Adora began to look forward to her monthly check-up chats with her social worker, something she had always dreaded with Ms. Mathews. She even began to see Mara as an older sister after a while. Someone she could look up to and who wanted her to do well in school and encouraged her to try new things.

When Adora was nine she started attending a gymnastics club after school which, to her surprise, she found she was good at. Really good. She was agile and quick on her feet. Flexible in both body and in ability. Mara came to both performances and each competition Adora took part in in the ten months she stayed with that foster family.

Then, one day, when Adora was ten, Mara asked if Adora minded if her sister Hope joined them for their meeting the next month. 

“Of course, you can say no if you don’t want to, it’s no problem. I just-”

“Okay.”

“…Okay?” Mara repeated. “Um, yeah. Of course. I’ll let her know.” She seemed nervous, fidgeting with a ring on her finger. Twisting it round and round until Adora was sure she was going to rip through the skin.

She sipped on her milkshake suspiciously. They were seated in a booth at the same ice cream parlour Mara had taken her to when she had first met Adora. It had long since become a tradition for their monthly meet-ups to go and after two years Adora knew everyone’s name on the staff. But Adora wasn’t focused on that at the moment. “Okay Mara. Seriously. What’s up?”

“What do you mean? Nothing. Nothing’s up. Everything’s down in fact. Very down. Like basement level down. Totally chill.” The ring twisted faster and faster with more venom.

Adora sighed. “Mara. You’re a shit liar.” She ignored Mara’s “Hey. Language!” and continued on. “Is something wrong with Hope?” She squirmed suddenly as a thought popped into her head. “…Do you not want me to meet her? She doesn’t have to come if you don’t-”

“No!”

Adora startled, jumping a little and looking up at Mara in surprise. What was going on? She had never seen Mara this tense before. Mara winced and lowered her voice. “No, no, Adora that’s not it at all. It’s…” She sighed in defeat and the hint of a smile tugged at her mouth. “You’re a smart kid, you know squirt?”

“Umm, thanks?” Adora said.

Mara took a second to collect herself, breathing in deeply. Adora watched in confusion. What was going on?

“So,” Mara started slowly. “Adora. How would you feel about maybe coming to stay with Hope and I for a while?”

“Like on a sleepover?” Adora asked, chewing on her straw. “Because Jane says I’m not allowed to have them until I’m older.” Not that she’d ever asked for one before. Adora never liked to make friends in school because she knew that she’d end up leaving them to go to some other school soon enough. She’d learned that the hard way before.

Mara chuckled. “No, not on a sleep over.” She took a deep breath. “How would you feel about Hope and I becoming your new foster family?”

Adora froze.

What?

“What?”

“It’s completely up to you, Adora, but I just…you’re a really special kid and, if you want, I’d like to give you a home with me and my family,” Mara smiled nervously.

Was this real? Adora felt tears come to her eyes. Nobody had ever…wanted her before. She’d been in so many families in the four years she’d been in the foster system and tried so hard to be the thing people expected her to be but it had never worked before. But now? Now her dreams were coming true?

 _Somewhere out there is a family just waiting for you to land on their doorstep so they can adopt you_ , Mara’s words from the first night they had met came back to her suddenly. Could this be it?

Adora slowly stood up from her seat, tear’s blurring her vision, and calmly made her way around the table only to lunge into Mara’s arms. She squeezed her middle with all her force just so Mara would know how much this meant to her.

 _The world_ , Adora thought. _It means the world._

“Easy there squirt,” Mara laughed. “I have to breath too.”

Adora loosened her grip to look up at her. She couldn’t see through her tears. “I would love to come live with you.”

Mara relaxed and wrapped her arms around Adora, grounding her through her whirlwind of feelings. Worry. Excitement. Nervousness. Fear. They were all spiralling around in Adora’s ten-year-old body. “Great. Because I would love for you to come live with me too.”

Adora smiled wetly and raised a hand to brush away the tears that had spilled onto her cheeks. The rest of the session was spent laughing, planning and eating celebratory sundaes.

Adora thought it might have been the best day of her entire life.

~~~

The moment Adora stepped into her new room in Hope and Mara’s [house,](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070557719/) carrying her one box that contained all of her belongings, her mouth fell open.

“This place is all mine?” she asked. Impossible. It was a [large room](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=te17k9eq&id=2A90F07A67588990F3C1EDA2AD47FD7500702493&thid=OIP.te17k9eqKBXP9qWqHEW9MwHaFj&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fimages.designtrends.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2016%2f04%2f18070030%2fTransitional-Teen-Girls-Bedroom.jpeg&exph=725&expw=966&q=teenage+girl+bedroom+idea&simid=608001364110737857&selectedIndex=15&ajaxhist=0) with a three massive windows looking out over the street below. The walls were a dark grey colour and against the back wall lay a four poster bed plump cushions. Beside the windows were two blue chairs and a table and at the foot of the bed lay a small white bench with a soft fluffy seat. On the other side of the room to the right of the door was a huge oak wardrobe.

Hope lay a hand on Adora’s shoulder, causing her to look up. She smiled a little. “Yes, it’s all yours. What do you think?”

Adora liked Hope. She was straight-forward and said what was on her mind. She had joined her and Mara’s sessions a few times after their initial meeting. She always asked Adora what she thought of school and how her grades were and what sports she liked to do. One time Adora had been having trouble with long division in maths so she took her copy and books with her to their meeting and Hope had spent the whole time going through it with her. She explained parts that Adora didn’t understand and didn’t get mad at her when she got some wrong. Plus she didn’t think Adora was dumb like Cassie in school did because she didn’t know when to bring down certain numbers. By the time they were finished, Adora had gotten fifteen sums right in a row and Hope said she was proud of her because they were very tricky ones. Adora had decided in that instant that she couldn’t wait to live with Mara and Hope.

“It looks like a princess’ room,” she whispered. Adora cautiously approached the bed and put her box on the duvet. It was that moment that Mara came up and joined Hope in the doorway. “Hey squirt,” she grinned. “Like the new room?”

“It’s amazing!” Adora beamed. And it was. It was like she was in one of the fairy-tales her mother had read to her when she was child before she went to sleep. Maybe her luck was finally turning around after all.

“Don’t worry about the chairs and table; we’ll move them tonight and put them into the attic.” Mara frowned. “It’s still feels a lot like a guest bedroom though…tell you what. We can head down to IKEA tomorrow and you can pick out some stuff you want to put in here. Then we’ll stop off at Home Depot and have a look at some paint colours.” 

Adora bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “Really? You don't have to do that. The room is perfect-”

"Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba," Mara interrupted. "It's no problem at all, squirt. Not if it makes you feel more at home in our house," she smiled and walked back down the hallway and out of sight. Hope came forward and knelt down on the ground beside Adora in front of the bed and pulled her box to the side so it was in between them. “Let’s start getting you unpacked, shall we?” 

Adora nodded.

The next ten minutes were spent quietly chatting while Adora unpacked all of her clothes and put them in the wardrobe. Not that there were many.

“Adora?” Hope asked at one point. “Is this yours?”

Adora turned around from placing one of her T-shirts in her new wardrobe to see what she was talking about. Hope was holding a small framed picture of a woman and a young baby on a picnic. The woman had thick blonde hair that was elegantly curled and crystal blue eyes. Her smile matched the one of the small child sitting in her lap as the two laughed for the camera. Adora nodded and crossed the room to point at the two figures. “That’s me and my mom.”

Hope nodded but didn’t say anything for a moment. Adora continued on. “I managed to take it from our house before Ms. Matthews brought me to my first foster home. It’s the only thing I have left of her. That and [Kowl](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=6PZryhlF&id=44570B47C82D22B7D1F290824576289BB1E0E4E5&thid=OIP.6PZryhlFNlkvEfcVhKEZwQAAAA&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmikescollection.files.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F11%2Fmotu-kowl-animated.jpg&exph=238&expw=320&q=kowl+80s+she+ra&simid=608018836020724799&ck=80DE850A9478A84EDEFDCCC06497A8A9&selectedindex=2&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,6&sim=11) and [Loo-Kee](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=IkLWR%2FXU&id=27D8C4CB0B32AB360BD50A9AAF748A70B9EC1960&thid=OIP.IkLWR_XU-iSwWBF54NKHxAHaFj&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F-gYwKSp1r14%2Fhqdefault.jpg&exph=360&expw=480&q=loo-kee+80s+she+ra&simid=607992078367919208&ck=2159FCA4C7FACA4759B796E5FE8BE952&selectedindex=2&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,6&sim=11).” She reached into her box and took out two stuffed animals to show Hope, one was a strange looking koala-owl hybrid and the other resembled a chipmunk with blue hair and a blue tail. “I can’t sleep without them.” 

It was true. Adora had tried it when she was in one of her previous foster homes after the older kids had made fun of her but she had only ended up tossing and turning all night with no success.

Hope looked up at Adora and smiled softly. “Well a special picture should get a special place to sit, don’t you think?” With that, she carefully placed the picture on top of the bedside table behind Adora. “There. Now everyone can see her.”

Adora nodded and hugged Kowl and Loo-Kee close to her chest. She’d never been able to put her mother’s picture up anywhere in any of her other foster homes. Some kids had made fun of her, saying she was a baby for keeping a picture of her mom, and some had nearly broken it at times. So instead, Adora had resigned herself for years to keeping it in her box under her bed and taking it out to look at for a bit every night before she went to sleep.

“Adora.” Hopes hand came to rest gently on her shoulder and Adora looked up at her. “I know Mara and I are not your birth parents…but I hope that you know that we are really looking forward to you becoming a member of our little family soon.”

With that, she rose and walked out of the room, presumably to find Mara. Adora squeezed Loo-Kee and Kowl a little tighter to her chest.

A family.

Adora smiled shyly to herself.

She wondered what that would feel like.

  
~~~

Adora felt the whole world turn upside down as she cartwheeled three times in a row perfectly.

Mara, Hope and Razz erupted into applause.

“Wonderful, dearie! Absolutely stupendous!” Razz proclaimed and Adora burst into a grin. Razz always had a way to make Adora feel special.

They were currently seated in the [back garden](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070557774/) of Razz's [old house](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070557750/) in the summer sun. Butterflies and bees fluttered around the flowers and the whole place felt so _so magical_ that Adora was sure she was in a fantasy world. Razz’s house always seemed to toe the line of reality and fiction, with its serene setting on the border of the woods and its tendency to attract all sorts of wildlife from deer to rabbits to foxes to owls. Razz herself seemed to be part of another world, one where anything was possible if you believed. That was one of the reasons why Adora loved coming here for the summer.

“Adora’s been really enjoying her All Star practices,” Mara explained. “We took her to her first practice a couple of weeks ago and her coaches say that she’s got some real talent for someone who has only just started out. It’s a shame that we started so close to the summer holidays, she’s a natural. We’re all really proud of her.”

“As you should be, dearie,” Razz exclaimed. “Those were the finest cartwheels I’ve seen since Mara and Hope here were itty bitty ten-year-olds like yourself Adora.” She leaned forward and stage-whispered conspiratorially, “And just between you and me, Hope’s were a little sloppy.” 

The rest of their little family chuckled and Hope sent Razz a wry smile. She gingerly took up her cup of coffee and brought it to her lips before saying primly, “Not as sloppy as Mara’s cooking,” and taking a long loud sip.

“Hey!” Mara cried.

“That’s fair,” Adora said, giggling when Mara whirled around and made a noise of shock.

“Betrayed! By my own family!” she cried out, clutching at her chest as if she had been stabbed.

Hope sent Adora a small wink. “Not betrayal if it’s just really true.”

“That’s it!” Mara’s hands slapped down onto the armrests of her chair dramatically before standing up. “Adora, get the light sabres from the car.”

“What are you doing?” Hope deadpanned.

“Challenging you to a duel, duh. No longer will we be marathoning Star Wars tonight, instead…a battle for my honour!”

Hope blinked. “Wait are you serious?”

“Deadly.”

“Mara we’re not going to duke it out until one of us wins.”

“And why not? This is what we did all the time when we were teenagers to see who was right.”

“Because we’re not teenagers anymore? Seriously Mara, someone could get hurt or we could break something or-”

Mara dramatically turned to Adora and pointed at Hope. “Do you hear this? These are the words of a coward.” 

Hope raised an eyebrow. 

“The words of someone who’s afraid to _lose_."

Hope’s left eye twitched and Adora giggled behind a hand. She knew what Mara was doing. Hope was by far the most competitive out of their entire family and strived to be the best at everything, always wanting to win. Losing at anything was like her kryptonite. “I’m not saying that-”

Mara turned to face Hope and leaned in close with a teasing smile. “Face it Hope. You just know you’d never be able to compete against me after spending all that time facing verbal battles in the court room instead of physical ones against me. You’ve lost your touch. You’ve gone off your game. You’ve turned weak in the face of my greatness.”

Hope stared blankly at Mara for a few moments, her mouth drawn in a straight line. Her face was unreadable but the longer her silence went on, the bigger Adora’s grin began to grow. Hope suddenly set her coffee mug firmly down on the table. “Outside in the back garden, nine o’clock. Don’t be late.”

Razz, Adora and Mara erupted into cheers at that and Hope only smirked into her coffee cup.

~~~

“Mara! Hope! We won! Did you see me?”

Adora bounded up to her two foster parents who were still in the audience. Mara immediately enveloped Adora in a massive hug.

“You were amazing squirt. Those back handsprings were perfect!” she said.

Hope nodded. “Yes, I’d even say that your round-offs were the best out of the team.”

“Really?” Adora beamed with pride. She’d been practising her tumbling skills in the back garden of their house for weeks. It was great to hear that all her hard work had paid off.

Hope hummed in agreement. “Ally’s mother, Vanessa, was sitting beside us for the competition, and she was shocked when I told her you’d only been doing All Star for about six months. She was really impressed with all your stunts.”

Mara ruffled Adora’s hair, though it was difficult since it was in a ponytail. “How about we go out for celebratory milkshakes, huh? We can go to that place you like a couple of blocks away.”

“Pop’s?” 

Mara nodded. “Actually, why don’t you ask some of your friends on the team if they want to come too? I’m sure they’d love some free milkshakes after you all worked so hard out there.”

“Just make they verify with whoever they’re here with first,” Hope said. “I don’t want anyone in our car without their parents’ permission.”

Adora suddenly lunged forwards and wrapped the two of them in a large hug. “Thank you,” she murmured into them. “You two are the best foster parents I could ever ask for.” And with that she bounced off into the crowds of ten year olds and adults, off to find her friends

~~~

“-appy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Adora. Happy Birthday to you!”

Adora leaned forward and blew out all of her candles in one big huff. Cheers erupted all around from her friends and family and from across the room a click sounded as Hope turned the lights back on.

Adora grinned. This had been the best birthday party she had ever had. Mara and Hope had taken her and all of her friends to a traveling carnival that had been taking place and she had spent hours going on all the rides with her friends. Mara had even managed to convince Hope to go on one of the roller-coasters. And then when everyone got back to their house, Razz arrived all the way from Etheria with a home-baked cake for Adora, the candles of which she had just blown out.

Adora had never really liked her birthday before she came to live with Hope and Mara. In her other foster homes, her foster parents might have just got her a small store-bought cake and divided it out amongst the other foster kids. It had been a pretty damp celebration, more of an afterthought to the day. After the first two years, she had stopped telling her foster parents when her birthday was just to get it over and done with. You can’t be disappointed with nothing if you were expecting it.

But this time Mara and Hope had insisted on a big party for all of her friends. And Razz had threatened to whack her over the head with her broomstick if Adora said she didn’t deserve it one more time.

So here she was, sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by all her friends and family and, for the first time in years, Adora felt like she was at home. Not some temporary place where she’d move on when the family didn’t want her anymore, not the house she’d grown up in but had feared stepping in to… Home. Where she could laugh with Mara and ask Hope to help her with her homework and bake with Razz. Adora’s heart swelled with that thought. 

After a year of living with Mara and Hope, Adora hoped that maybe, just this once, she had found a family that wouldn’t give up on her so soon.

Suddenly Hope was beside her, handing her an envelope.

“This came in the mail a few days ago,” she said. “I know we said not to open your presents until later but I think you’ll like this one. It’s from Mara and I.”

From the corner of her eye, Adora noticed Mara starting to record a video of her on her phone.

Cautiously, she started re-opening the envelope, tearing away the tape that had re-sealed it after one her two guardians had presumably opened it when they had gotten it. It looked very official. She reached inside and pulled out a bunch of pages.

“What’s all this?” she asked, confused.

Adora looked at one of the first pages.

_Congratulations Ms. Hope Swordsmith and Ms. Mara Swordsmith, you are now the legal guardians and adopted parents of Adora Swordsmith, née Skelletor –_

Adora’s entire world stopped as she read those words. Her friend Kelly gasped as she read over her shoulder and quickly the other girls started crowding around her to see what was written on the pages too.

“Surprise!” Mara yelled from where she stood behind the camera. “Happy birthday, squirt! You’re officially a Swordsmith!”

Adora’s vision started to turn blurry and Kelly quickly wrapped her arms around her excitedly. 

“Wh-what?” she started gasping. “When did this happen?”

Hope put a soothing hand on her shoulder and Adora turned to look up at her. “This has been in the process of happening for quite a while, Adora,” she said calmly. “Several months in fact.”

That was when Adora truly burst into tears. “Really?”

“Yep!” Mara laughed. “Where do you think we were gone when we said we had book club? We wanted it to be a surprise for you!”

That only started to make Adora cry harder. After all this time, she’d spent years dreaming of what it might be like to be adopted into a family, and here it was. Happening right before her very eyes. She could hardly believe it was real.

All around her, her friends excitedly started tittering around, telling her congratulations and how they were so happy for her and how it was about time and that it was obviously going to happen and…

And Adora could barely contain all of the joy inside her. She felt like she was going to crack open explode with all the warm fuzzy feelings that were churning around in her chest.

Suddenly Mara’s words from the first time they met came back to her once again, she had turned them over and over again in her head for weeks afterwards, hardly believing that they could be true. But now she knew.

_Somewhere out there is a family just waiting for you to land on their doorstep so they can adopt you._

And Adora had found them. 

Finally.

~~~

When Adora was fifteen, she sat Mara and Hope down in their kitchen to have a talk.

 _The_ talk. 

The hi-I’m-Adora-Swordsmith-and-I’m-pretty-sure-I’m-a-lesbian talk.

God, why was this so hard? She had already tried to force herself to have this conversation with them around four times but on each occasion she hadn’t even made it down the stairs to ask them to come to the kitchen before chickening out. The only reason she had managed to get this far this time was because she had just spent half an hour in her room blasting classical music into her ears to calm her nerves instead of the measly ten or fifteen minutes she had before.

Mara and Hope sat opposite her and stared at her expectantly. After all, _Adora_ was the one who had called them down to the kitchen in the first place. Fuck, what if this went wrong? What if they didn’t like her anymore? What if they kicked her out?

No. Hope and Mara weren’t like that. They would never do anything to hurt Adora. Not like...Not like her Dad had. 

So why did she feel so scared?

Adora took a deep breath.

“Hi.”

Mara quirked a grin. “Hey.”

“Adora, is something wrong? You seem out of sorts,” Hope asked.

“Umm,” she started. Okay. If she was going to do this, she was just going to have to suck it up, get it out there and then deal with the consequences. “Well, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you guys for a while.”

Hope raised an eyebrow.

“Umm. W-well… A lot of my friends are…starting to get boyfriends at the moment. A-and that’s fine but it made me start to think about myself a bit. Because…you know. I’ve never had one.”  
  
“Squirt, there’s no need to put pressure on yourself to get a boyfriend.” Mara’s eyebrows furrowed together. “You know we love you and there’s no need to stick all your self-worth on a person.”

“Agreed.” Hope nodded. “And a boyfriend would probably only disrupt your studies. Honestly Adora you’re better off without one.”

Adora hesitated. This was…not how she thought this conversation would go.

“See, um, that’s great. Thanks. Uh, the thing is…I’m not worried about getting a boyfriend. Like, at all actually.”

Hope and Mara shared a confused glance. “Okay…” Mara said. “Then what’s the problem?”

Adora took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“Well, it’s not exactly a problem per se. More like…something extra about me I thought you should know. Hope, Mara… I’m gay.” 

There. She’d done it.

“Oh squirt…” Mara started, reaching across the table to take Adora’s hand. “I’m so sorry…Hope and I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“It’s…it’s okay.” Adora squirmed in her seat. Now that she had officially come out (God it felt so weird to say it) her conscience seemed…lighter. More free.

Hope looked a little awkward. She and Adora didn’t talk about their feelings very often. “How long have you been…suspecting this?”

Adora looked down. “It started about two years ago. I started noticing how girls were pretty. There was this one girl who moved into my class and whenever I saw her I just got butterflies, I guess. And then…I started wondering. I had never liked any of the guys in any of my classes before at any point in my life. I just…didn’t feel anything towards them. But I felt…different about girls.”

Mara nodded and sighed. “Look Adora. You know we love you, no matter who you are, who you’re attracted to or what you do.”

“And if this is who you are then you know that we will always support you,” Hope added.

Adora smiled and for the first time during this entire conversation, she felt relief. They didn’t hate her. They didn’t want to get rid of her. They…accepted her. 

Adora's heart soared. She really couldn’t have asked for better guardians.

Hope suddenly gave one of her rare wry grins. “And for the record Adora, I still think that a girlfriend would disrupt your schoolwork, not to mention your All Star training-”

Adora let out a dramatic groan and banged her head onto the table while Mara laughed.

Still, Adora found herself smiling into the table.

She really did have the best family she could have asked for.

~~~

When Adora was just about to turn seventeen, her world seemed to crash to a halt. 

“But Maaaraaaaa! Hope! It’s not fair!”

Adora felt tears prick at her eyes with her frustration.

Mara sighed. “I’m sorry squirt but we don’t really have a choice.”

Adora wanted to scream. “Yes you do! You can just choose not to go!”

“Adora,” Hope said. For once her cool and calm exterior was starting to crack and a hint of frustration leaked into her voice. “I know you don’t want to leave but this is a huge opportunity for me. One I just can’t turn down.”

Adora threw her hands up in the air. “So the Crystal Castle Law Firm offers you a promotion. Fine! Great! _Good for you, Hope!_ But that doesn’t mean you have to move the whole _family_ several states over to _Etheria_ of all places to do it! Why can’t you just move by yourself and leave me and Mara in Manhattan?”

“Adora.” Mara warned. “That is not how this family works. Besides, Razz is getting old and it’s not safe for her to be in that house alone anymore. And you know she would rather sell the diner than go to a nursing home. So it’ll be good for her to have some company.”

Hope sighed. “I thought you might be more mature about this Adora.”

“Oh I’m _sorry_ Hope. Are my feelings bothering you?”

“Adora!” Mara snapped. “Don’t speak to her that way!”

“No, Mara, it’s quite alright. She’ just throwing a tantrum like a child.”

“Well, _fine_ then.” Adora glared at her two guardians. “If neither of you are even going to take my opinion into account and go behind my back then I’m going to go to my room! _Like a child._ ”

Adora stood quickly out of her chair and stalked out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind her. She ran upstairs and slammed her bedroom door behind her again before walking over and face planting straight onto her bed.

Tears pricked behind her so she squeezed them shut and willed them away. 

It wasn’t fair. Adora didn’t want to move to Etheria. She wanted to stay in New York with all her friends and her cheer squad in school and-

A buzz sounded from her phone on her bedside table. Adora stared at it for a second before picking it up and checking her texts.

**Let’s Go Birthday Bitches**

_Ally McKane added Adora Swordsmith, Chelsea Beaker, Olivia Murray, Ryan Johnson, Rachel Jackson and Gabbie Chase to the chat_

_Ally McKane named the chat Let’s Go Birthday Bitches_

_Ally McKane changed Adora Swordsmith to Birthday Bitch, Chelsea Beaker to Guest List Bitch, Olivia Murray to Booze Bitch, Ryan Johnson to Bitch with a House, Rachel Jackson to Music Bitch and Gabbie Chase to Food Bitch_

_Ally McKane changed their name to Planning Bitch_

**Planning Bitch:** I call to order the first official meeting of the Birthday Bitches

 **Food Bitch:** what are we, the spice girls?

 **Planning Bitch:** absolutely

 **Planning Bitch:** now, onto the first thing on our agenda

 **Planning Bitch:** our resident birthday bitch turns seventeen in two weeks and there’s no party planned for her

 **Planning Bitch:** this is a TRAVESTY

 **Bitch with a House:** didn’t know you knew such a fancy word

 **Planning Bitch:** stfu I know words asshole

 **Booze Bitch:** so our names are our jobs?

 **Planning Bitch:** exactly. Ryan’s parents are going away to their lakehouse on the weekend of adoras bday 

**Planning Bitch:** so I suggest we make the most of this opportunity and throw a house party

 **Planning Bitch:** plus his parents are the most chill and don’t care as long as nothing expensive gets broken and we clean up after

 **Music Bitch:** I’m pretty sure Hope would skin us alive if we tried to throw a party at adoras house

 **Booze Bitch:** holy shit I don’t even want to think about that

 **Booze Bitch:** no offence adora but that woman scares the shit out of me

Adora smiled. Her friends were idiots.

**Birthday Bitch:** none taken

 **Guest List Bitch:** and theres the birthday girl herself!!!!

 **Guest List Bitch:** have you been lurking all this time????

 **Birthday Bitch:** nah just came on now

 **Birthday Bitch:** but seriously guys I’m fine not having a big birthday party

 **Birthday Bitch:** I don’t want you guys to go to loads of trouble just for me

 **Guest List Bitch:** nonsense

 **Food Bitch:** don’t you dare go all humble on us adora!! >:(

 **Bitch with a House:** ye we don’t care if it’s a lot of trouble

 **Bitch with a House:** especially when you wouldn’t let us plan anything big for your sweet sixteen :(

 **Planning Bitch:** everyone loves you Adora. You deserve something nice to look forward to for your bday. You only turn seventeen once

Adora hesitated and bit her lip in thought.

A party? Sure she’d been to loads with her friends but having one for herself? That seemed a bit extreme. Adora wasn’t the type of girl who needed a party filled with people to celebrate her birthday. She was fine just doing things with her friends for the day like going rollerblading or bowling or even to the ice rink.

But what if her friends were right? What if she _did_ deserve this? If things continued like they were, Adora would be moving during the summer holidays and wouldn’t be able to see her friends for months after that. Possibly over a year. Who was she to say no to this when it could be the one last big fun thing they all did together before Adora had to move?

**Birthday Bitch:** …fine

 **Planning Bitch:** wut

 **Food Bitch:** holy shit

 **Bitch with a House:** I did not think you’d give in that easy

 **Guest List Bitch:** whooo!!! Let’s go bitches!!!!!!

 **Booze Bitch:** omfg ur so not going to regret this adora babes <3

 **Music Bitch:** get ready for the party of the fucking decade

Adora sighed and turned off her phone. It continued to buzz as her friends carried on celebrating, unaware that she was no longer there with them.

She dragged a hand across her face before looking to the side of the room where her small vanity table stood against the wall. All along the borders of the mirror and on the wall behind it were polaroid pictures and regular photos of her and her friends having fun. Some were from parties they went to, some were from them just hanging out together and some were of the entire cheer team at school and her All Stars team at the gym. There were even a few pictures of Adora with Hope, Mara and Razz mixed in among them.

Adora sighed and flopped onto her back onto the bed again. This move was going to be the worst decision ever. She was sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow we're only on chapter 2 and Adora's already cried like five times in this fic. That...doesn't bode well, does it?
> 
> First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who commented and left kudos on the last chapter. They all seriously make my day and I really appreciate it. I honestly thought that nobody was going to read this and the fact that so many did is mind-blowing. So thank you!! Whether you’re just reading this fic now or you’ve come back for the next chapter, it really means a lot to me.
> 
> For those of you who are wondering, All Star is a type of club cheer where trainers combine gymnastics, cheerleading and dance into a routine to compete with. Lots of cheerleaders who cheer for school teams also cheer with All Star teams and compete. It really helps to hone your skills and adds to your ability.
> 
> PS if I ever spout some bullshit about cheerleading that isn't true, please feel free to correct me in the comments. I'm from Ireland where cheerleading... is basically non-existent. We're more into GAA over here. The only things I know about cheerleading come from the Netflix series 'Cheer' and extensive google research lol.
> 
> If you didn’t read the notes at the top of the fic, I suggest doing so. They just give some background on a few things regarding Hope, Mara and Razz that aren’t explained in the fic. They aren’t necessary to know but they might help to make things a bit easier to understand.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Comments and kudos restore my will to live!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora finally moves into her new house with Razz.

Adora sighed as she stepped out of Hope’s jeep to look at Razz’s [house](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070557750/). Over the last few years it had become a second home to her where she would come and stay with Razz for a month during the summer holidays. Now it was going to be her home for the next two years.

Just as the moving truck started to make its way down the long and windy [drive-way](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070557763/), the front door of the house opened and out stepped Razz. “Adora dearie! You’ve come!”

With surprising ease for an old lady, Razz quickly made her way over and enveloped Adora in a big hug.

Despite herself, Adora smiled into Razz’s shoulder. Yes, she hadn’t been happy about the move, and yes she was still of the mind-set that things were going to be awful, but if there was one thing Adora could never take for granted it was spending more time with her grandmother-of-sorts. Razz had always been there for Adora and even now just being in her firm and gentle arms made Adora’s too-tight-chest feel lighter. It was as if she could just magic away Adora’s sadness.

“Hey Razz,” Mara said, coming out of the car. Hope exited on the other side from the driver’s seat.

Suddenly a yipping sound could be heard from the inside of the car. Razz looked at them in confusion. “What’s that?”

Adora grinned at her and opened the nearest door in the jeep and reached inside, pulling out a [small golden dog](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=WuzW7Emx&id=1144A00C481FC81C0CBE0D07E51F210E7701C66A&thid=OIP.WuzW7EmxcB4Bo6zQhjxhVQHaFb&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2f736x%2f71%2fc9%2feb%2f71c9ebd38363d271daf28d2bb3fbb2d1.jpg&exph=528&expw=720&q=Goberian+Puppies&simid=608025828230562369&ck=4F44DEF703BB6B9892A32298BC0E70BC&selectedIndex=69&ajaxhist=0). Razz gasped. “A puppy,” she crooned as she reached over to pet its soft fur.

“Razz meet Swift Wind.”

“Oh Adora, he’s so _cute_. But nobody told Madame Razz you were bringing a dog!” Razz turned to look at Hope and Mara.

Mara shrugged. “He was our bargaining chip for Adora coming here. He’s only nine weeks old and we just picked him up a before we started driving here.”

Adora smiled sheepishly. Hope and Mara had been hot and cold about buying a dog for years even though Adora had begged them so many times. Finally, it had been Adora’s three week long tantrum about moving that had swayed them. They had agreed to get a dog for Adora’s birthday as long as she gave the move a chance. Adora had agreed immediately and had ceased to complain as much all the time. However it had taken a bit longer to find a breeder than expected and now it was three months past Adora’s birthday but she finally held her dreams dog in her arms. 

Swift Wind looked up at Adora and licked her chin, drawing chuckles from everyone in the group. 

“Well…” Razz said. “He is a cutie.”

The moving van had finally managed to pull up in front of house without damaging any of Razz’s trees and one of the movers jumped out of the passenger seat. “Do you ladies want us to start unloading?”

“Yes thanks!” Mara called back. She turned around to face the rest of their group. “Well I guess we should start getting this stuff out of the car.”

Adora sighed as she took a lead out of one of the foot wells of the jeep and clipped it onto Swift Wind’s collar. She quickly checked her phone before going to help Mara and Hope. She had twelve new messages.

  
**Adora Swordsmith > Ally McKane**

**Ally McKane:** Gonna miss you boo!

 **Ally McKane:** You have to text me when you get there

  
**Adora Swordsmith > Chelsea Beaker**

**Chelsea Beaker:** Love you adora babes <3

 **Chelsea Beaker:** Cheerleading just isn’t going to be the same without you!

 **Chelsea Beaker:** <333333333

  
**Adora Swordsmith > Olivia Murray**

**Olivia Murray:** is2g if we don’t keep in contact I’ll come to Etheria and sock you myself

 **Olivia Murray:** See ya round She-Ra

**Adora Swordsmith > Ryan Johnson**

**Ryan Johnson:** You’re the best stunt partner I could have asked for girl

 **Ryan Johnson:** Gonna miss you loads xxx

  
**Adora Swordsmith > Rachel Jackson **

**Rachel Jackson:** You’re not even gone a day and I already want you back here :((((

**Adora Swordsmith > Gabbie Chase**

**Gabbie Chase:** Go kick ass out there Adora!!!!!

 **Gabbie Chase:** You’re gonna be great!!!

Adora couldn’t help but smile at her friends. God, she was going to miss them so much.

To her surprise there were even a few messages on last year’s school cheerleading group chat.

**Varsity Cheer 2k18/19**

**Hanna Stevens:** As captain of this year’s varsity cheer team, I would like to wish our former teammate Adora Swordsmith luck in her move to Etheria! Adora was an excellent sportsman and model cheerleader who was given the rare offer of moving up to varsity cheerleader while still in her sophomore year! Truly a talented girl and great teammate, you will be sorely missed!

 **Georgia Washington:** shes in a different state not dead hannah… still good luck tho

 **Ava Winters:** ^^^^^ lol. Good luck adora!!!!

 **Sarah McClain:** good luck She Ra

 **Max Power:** We’ll miss you she-ra!

 **Ryan Johnson:** Ain’t nobody got the stunts down like our adora

 **Chelsea Beaker:** Hell yeah

 **Ally McKane:** Damn right

 **Melissa Barry:** Safe travels!

 **Austin Parks:** Rember to beat the shit out of everyone if they don’t give you the best flying/tumbling spot at that new school of yours :)

The texts went on and on and Adora smiled in surprise. All forty members of the cheerleading team all wishing her luck and saying goodbye. It was...unexpected for sure but appreciated as hell. Adora was going to need all the luck she could get in this place.

“Adora!” Hope called. “Could you help me with Swift Wind’s cage please?”

Adora sighed. She clicked off her phone and stuffed into her jeans pocket. She’d text her friends back later. They’d understand that it was a busy day for her.

As Adora went to go help her guardian and Swift Wind yipped along at her heels, one question played over and over again in her mind.

Why did it feel like the end of something?

~~~

It had taken two weeks but finally all the boxes were unpacked.

Adora stood in the centre of her room and surveyed what was before her. To her [left](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070484518/) lay her bed and several paintings stood against the wall. A hanging chair swung from the rafters. To her [right](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070484530/) lay a couch and a swinging pod seat. Her floor was covered in various rugs and tacked to one area of the walls around her [vanity table](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070572656/) were as many photographs and polaroid pictures as Adora could fit.

It wasn't quite the same as her old room back in New York but it would do. Maybe someday it would even feel like it was hers not just somebody else's with her stuff in it.

“Adora!” Hope called from downstairs. “If your finished unpacking, bring your empty boxes downstairs please.”

“Coming!” Adora yelled back and picked up the stack of empty boxes laying on her floor and made her way downstairs.

“Ooh, very good Adora dearie,” Razz said when Adora came into the [kitchen](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070572690/). “These will make excellent compost for my vegetables next year!” The old woman took the cardboard pieces off Adora’s hands and quickly walked out the back door into the garden and around the side of the cottage towards the compost heap.

Mara suddenly arrived at the door. “I’ve finished unpacking my shit,” she declared and walked over to where Hope was sitting on one of the bar stools at the table and plucked the apple she was about to eat right out of her hands. Mara took a bite of it. Hope, to her credit, didn’t protest and just picked another apple out of the fruit bowl in the centre of the table.

“Adora,” she started. “You start at your new school tomorrow. Have you got your uniform laid out?”

“Yes, Hope.”

“And is your bag packed?”

“Yep.”

“And you’re sure you have all the books on that booklist they sent us?”

“ _Yes._ God, I’m not going back-packing through the rainforest, Hope. It’s just school.”

Hope simply hummed noncommittedly as if she were unconvinced. “The principal rang today, Ms. Angella Brightmoon. She told me she has arranged for one of the students to show you around the school tomorrow morning if you get there early. To give you a ‘feel’ for the place. I told her you would be delighted to meet them.”

“That was nice of you,” Adora said bitterly as she started boiling the kettle to make a coffee.

“Squirt-” Mara sighed but Adora cut across her.

“Look, I said I’d give the move a chance and I meant it but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about you two going around making decisions for me behind my back. I’m seventeen guys not twelve.”

There was an awkward silence as Adora spooned a teaspoon of instant coffee into a teacup.

“Fine.” Hope conceded finally as the kettle came to brew. “I’ll try to confer with you next time an opportunity arises. But Adora I really would recommend making an effort to get to school early tomorrow. It might give you an extra advantage if you already know the lay of the land and you won’t have to waste time trying to find classrooms.”

“And you never know!” Mara piped up. “You might even end up friends with this mysterious tour-guide!”

Adora hummed non-committedly. “Maybe.”

But in her mind, nobody would replace the friends she had already made in New York. Ally, Chelsea, Olivia, Ryan, Rachel and Gabbie were the people that knew her and been there for her during all the hard parts of her life. When she had needed them, they had stepped up to the plate without hesitation and for that, there was no-one in the entire world who could take their place.

Razz opened the back door and entered the kitchen when her landline suddenly started ringing. She walked over and picked up the receiver. “Yes? Oh Sprocker, dearie! How is everything? Oh. Oh my. How are they? Yes, yes of course. Take all the time you need. Yes. Now you stay safe, Sprocker. Don’t you dare come back to the Shack until everything is sorted or else you’ll have my broom to fear. Yes, have a good night. And Sprocker…I’m very sorry.”

Adora’s brows furrowed as she frowned and she turned to Mara who gave her an exaggerated shrug. Sprocker was a member of Twigget family, Sprite and Sparkle and their children Sprag, Sprocker, Sprint, Spritina and Spunky, who had worked at the diner Razz owned as waiters and cooks for years. Adora had known them since she was eleven years old and been taken to the Shack for the very first time. Sprocker had given her extra sprinkles on her milkshake

Razz turned around and her face was strangely solemn. “Adora dearie, I know you already agreed to work Saturdays at the Shack but I need you to work for the next few weeks as well if that’s all right. Sprocker just called and…well it’s not good. Poor Sprint and Spritina were in a car crash on the outside of town and have been admitted to hospital. Sprint has a broken arm and Spritina has two broken legs.”

“Oh my god…” Mara whispered. Even Hope seemed worried. 

Sprint and Spritina were two of the waiters for the Shack so it made sense for Razz to ask Adora to fill in for one of them. She had worked at the diner for the month she had been in Etheria last summer and had gotten on very well with the other staff there.

“I- Of course!” Adora rushed. “Was there anyone else in the accident?”

Razz shook her head. “No, just them. Sprocker is in the hospital right now waiting to see them.”

Oh God… What an awful way to start their new move. It was like an omen or something. Adora felt chills run down her spine.

Razz sighed. “I’ll have to find someone else to fill in for Sprint. I’m not sure where though…”

Mara walked over and put a comforting hand on Razz’s shoulder. “I’m sure everything will work itself out.”

Razz smiled. “Thank you, Mara dearie.”

Adora bit her lip. “I’m going upstairs to FaceTime Ally,” she said and walked out. “This is getting way too depressing.”

“Don’t stay on too long,” Hope called after her. “Dinner is in an hour.”

“Yes and you promised Madame Razz you’d bake a pie with her, Adora!” Razz yelled. “I have a whole bucket of apples in the back room with your name on it!”

Adora chuckled as she walked up the stairs to her room.

Car crashes, extra shifts at the Shack, a mysterious school tour-guide. This day couldn’t get any fucking weirder. All Adora wanted to do was chat with her friends and have a good time, was that really so much to ask?

Adora flopped down onto her bed and scrolled through her phone contacts until she came across Ally’s. As the number dialled and she waited for her friend to pick up, Adora couldn’t help but dread her first day of school tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Kronk voice* Oh yeah, it's all coming together...
> 
> OwO what's this? The beginnings of a plot? Who would have thought! 
> 
> In case you didn't know, The Twiggets are actually a race of people who live in the Whispering Woods in the 80s She Ra. They're ruled by King Sprite and Queen Sparkle and the ones who I say are their children in this fic (Sprag, Sprocker, Sprint, Spritina and Spunky) are actually characters that join the original gang from time to time on adventures. I thought it might be a fun easter egg to dot in. I've already put in two other characters from the 80s show that we don't see in the new She Ra last chapter, Kowl and Loo-Kee who I say are Adora's stuffed animals, so i've decided to see if I can put a few more in if I ever need someone to say a few lines here and there. 
> 
> Something I would like to make people aware of, is that I have recently updated my tags from 'Bands' down. I was going to withhold some of these tags until they became relevant to the story for plot reasons and so I don't spoil you guys for some of Adora's back story but I have since decided that it's better that you guys know from the start what you're getting into. So if you have been reading for the last few chapters and haven't noticed the change, please go up and read them. I would really hate for someone to become triggered because I didn't label my content responsibly. I will of course put trigger warnings in the (so far singular in my mind) chapter that will contain such content and will put markings before and after the passages so you guys know where to skip from and to if you feel uncomfortable reading that kind of thing.
> 
> Please let me know what your thoughts are in the comments and hey, while you're at it, leave a kudos! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora starts her first day at Brightmoon Academy and maybe (?) makes some friends

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Adora groaned and turned over onto her side, feeling around behind her for a pillow before smashing it onto her head to muffle the sound of her alarm.

Goddamnit she hated the first day of school.

Usually after a while Adora could get used to her 6:00 am alarm during the school year and wake up without too much trouble but the first day of school? Nope. It was like pure torture after a blissful summer holiday filled with wondrous late morning lie-ins.

Okay. She could do this. Mind over matter. She was Adora fucking Swordsmith and she was not going to let her own fucking body put her down. Not even if her bed was really comfy and soft and she had just changed the sheets yesterday so it was really smooth and—Nope. Adora was going to get up right this instant and she was going to get started on her day. Compos mentis and all that other bullshit that Hope always spouted.

Groaning with the effort, Adora finally managed to drag herself out of bed and turn off the alarm on her phone that was physically drilling into her skull. Adora glanced at the mirror of her vanity and winced. Her hair was sticking up all over the placed and there was drool dried in to her chin.

Not cute.

Sighing, she made her way over to her wardrobe and began pulling out her [sportswear](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070573574/). Black leggings, a black sports bra and a white mesh top to go over it.

Slowly, she began going through her morning routine. Brush her teeth, wash her face, get dressed, tie her hair up in its classic ponytail. After Adora was fully ready, she went downstairs and found Mara and Hope already waiting with breakfast. They’d probably been up since five. 

“Hey squirt,” Mara said around a mouthful of branflakes. “Ready for the first day of school?” 

“Ugh,” Adora groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She opened up one of the cupboards and pulled out a bowl for herself. She walked over to the kitchen island to put it down and Mara ruffled her hair, to her protest. “Mara!”

“Just relax,” Mara grinned. “You’ll be fine. Maybe you’ll even get on well with your,” she wiggled her fingers at Adora, “ _mystery_ tour-guide.”

Adora batted her hands away and plucked the branflakes box from Mara’s side of the island. “The only mystery around here is how anybody ever thinks you’re a fully functioning thirty-five-year old adult when you’re literally just a grown-ass child.”

Mara gasped dramatically. “Is that any way to talk to your guardian?”

Adora rolled her eyes and poured the branflakes into her bowl followed by the milk.

“The one who raised you? Who gave you the clothes on your back and nourished you throughout your life? Who took you in from the streets and gave you a warm bed?”

“You didn’t ‘take me in from the streets’. You adopted me from a foster family.”

Mara waved her hand dismissively. “Pfffft. Details.”

Hope started carefully washing out her now-empty coffee cup. “Are you two done? We still have to go for a run and Adora hasn’t even eaten yet. It’s half six.”

It had long since been a tradition for the three to go out for a morning run in the morning. To say the least, Hope got cranky when certain _people_ didn’t stick exactly to her schedule. 

Mara scrunched her face up and stuck her tongue out at her sister behind her back. Adora had to hide her laugh behind a cough. Hope turned around to stare at them both but Mara only smiled innocently.

Hope sighed. “I really deserve a medal for putting up with you two.”

The kitchen filled with laughter and cries of outrage and for the first time, Adora started to wonder if maybe today wasn’t going to be so bad at all.

~~~

A forty-five minute run and quick shower later saw Adora standing in the middle of her room with a towel wrapped around her, staring at her new [uniform](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070573871/) which was laid out on her bed.

This felt…symbolic. 

Adora didn’t like it.

Sighing, she unwrapped her towel and started putting on her clothes. It was a familiar-and-yet-not kind of experience. She knew the motions of putting on a uniform, but the grey skirt whose pleats had not yet been worn out, the freshly ironed white shirt that still felt so crisp, the itchy grey pullover jumper that scratched at Adora’s skin and the tight-fitting maroon blazer? Those were all new.

When Adora was finally finished getting ready, pulling on her grey knee-high socks, she turned to tie up her hair. She stopped with what she saw in the mirror.

She looked like a stranger. Or at least like her in someone else’s clothes.

But definitely not like the person she had known in New York.

No. This was not the Adora she was familiar with. But…maybe…with time…she could _get_ to know her? Adora _had_ promised Mara and Hope she’d give the move a chance. Maybe…maybe this was how she could start.

Adora sighed and place a bobbin in her mouth, gathering up her hair. She was seriously over-thinking this. When it was in its signature ponytail, she picked up her bag from the floor and winced at how heavy it was. It was going to be a pain to cycle with. 

Shouldering it, Adora began to make her way downstairs, giving herself a final once-over in the mirror. 

She was ready.

~~~

By the time Adora had cycled to Brightmoon Acadamy, it was eight o’clock. School started at nine so she had plenty of time to get this stupid tour over and done with.

The school building itself was one she had passed many times on her way to the diner with Razz and somehow it always managed to take her breath away. A [huge building](https://www.pinterest.ie/pin/141019032070573548/), it looked like an old gothic mansion straight from a book, with its large grounds, sculpted hedges and gothic-arched windows. 

But there was one problem.

Where was she going to put her bike?

Suddenly a shape appeared at the top of the steps leading up the school. The shape began to move closer as it started going down the steps and Adora realised that it was a girl in the same uniform as her.

This must be her tour-guide.

It took a while for the girl to make it down all of the steps but when she did, Adora noticed that she was quite short, only coming up to her shoulder, with bright pink hair.

“Hi!” she waved. “I’m Glimmer!”

Adora stuck out her hand “Adora. I’m new.”

Glimmer hesitated before gingerly taking her hand and shaking it. What had she been expecting? A hug? “Oh, yes, I know. I’m supposed to show you around today. You got here nice and early though so we have plenty of time.”

“Do you know where I can but my bike first? I kinda don’t want to have to drag it up all those steps.” Adora confessed.

Glimmer chuckled. “Right this way.”

Glimmer began leading Adora around the side of the grounds, down where she had never been before. What they soon found was a large car park, hidden from view of the main school by tall oak trees. Towards the side of the car park was a bike rack.

“So, Ms. Brightmoon told me you just moved here. How long have you been in Etheria for?”

“Two weeks now. My grandma lives here so we moved in with her.”

“That’s cool. Where did you live before that?”

“Manhattan.”

“As in Manhattan in New York City?! That’s like 2,000 miles away!”

Adora felt her lip quirk. “I know. I was in the car when we drove here.”

Glimmer sighed dramatically. “I’ve never been so far away from this town. My parents are super busy all the time so we literally have no time to go anywhere. I _wish_ I could go somewhere like New York City.”

Adora wasn’t sure what to say to that.

She finished chaining her bike up and turned to face Glimmer. “Well. I suppose we better get this tour started then.”

“Right!” Glimmer declared and started leading Adora back the way they came.

“So this whole place used to be convent in, like, the 1800s, so it’s pretty old-fashioned-looking. They used to teach local children to read and write and stuff so that’s why they decided to turn it into a school when the building turned derelict. The whole town decided to pitch in to help and they finished restoring it in maybe five months? I think so anyway.”

They had reached the steps again. Adora gave them a pained look. “Do I really have to go up all of these every day?”

Glimmer nodded sadly and smiled. “Trust me it’s better if you just suck it up go up fast. Get it over and done with, you know?” She started jogging up the steps and Adora hurried to catch up. When they had reached the top, Adora was nearly out of breath.

Glimmer just gave her a pat her on the back. “That was good for your first time. Don’t worry, they get easier the more times you do it.” 

She lead Adora inside the school building next and started to take her around the different hallways, explaining what each wing was used for and a bit of history about the school.

Adora found that she enjoyed talking to Glimmer. She answered all of her questions readily and explained all of the school’s history simply so she didn’t get lost. Plus they got on very well. Adora was able to joke around with her and talk normally about stuff she’d need for classes and which teachers were strict and which weren’t. Basic survival stuff. By the time they were finished with the tour, Adora had a fairly good grasp of where everything was and it was just in time too since students were starting to mill around the hallways before classes began.

When they had returned to the foyer again, Glimmer turned to Adora. “Do you have your timetable?” 

Adora rummaged through her bag for a minute before she finally found the slip of paper and showed it to Glimmer. She stared at it for a bit before pulling her own one up on her phone and looking at it in surprise. “Oh, we have a lot of the same classes. First up is Geography with Ms. Netossa.”

Adora groaned and Glimmer smirked. “Not a fan, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Well don’t worry. Ms. Netossa is super cool and hey, you’ll have me in there with you!”

“Yeah, maybe it might not be so bad,” Adora smiled.

The two walked until they had finally reached their classroom on the first floor. As soon as they walked in a boy in the back stood up and waved. “Glimmer!” he called.

“Bow!” she squealed. The two ran over to each other and hugged. Adora stood behind awkwardly and looked down at the ground, feeling _painfully_ like a third wheel. This was obviously one of Glimmers friends, Bow she presumed. Glimmer had mentioned him while they were talking. She had said that his dads ran the school and local library.

Glimmer noticed Adora looking awkwardly around the classroom and immediately took a step back. “Bow, this is Adora. She’s the new girl I told I had to show around today. Adora, this is my best friend Bow.”

Bow nodded eagerly. “It’s super nice to meet you,” he grinned. “I saved Glimmer a seat but you can sit here too if you want?”

“Uh, sure. Thanks,” Adora said.

They all sat down and Bow immediately turned to talk to the two girls. They still had a few minutes before class actually started.

“So, Adora. Is this your first time in Etheria? Your face seems pretty familiar,” Bow asked.

“Actually no,” Adora answered. “My grandmother has lived here for practically forever and I normally spend like a month here every summer. She owns a diner, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, Razz’s Shack?”

Twins gasps exploded out of Glimmer and Bow. “Your grandmother is Madame Razz?” Glimmer demanded. “She and the shack are icons in this town! It’s like the Etheria version of Pop’s Choc’lit Shoppe from Riverdale!”

Adora chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, well, I hang out around the Shack a lot in the summer, helping out. Last year I even started working there as a waitress. That’s probably where you’ve seen me before.”

“Oh. My. God.” Bow stated. “That’s totally it!”

Glimmer started to grin. “So you must be an insanely good cook if Madame Razz is your grandmother.”

Adora winced. “Um, not really. I’m more of a baking person if I’m being honest. I’m kind of a disaster at cooking. Like pies and milkshakes are fine but ask me to make anything harder than a ham-and-cheese toastie and I’m out.”

Bow chuckled. It was at that moment that Ms. Netossa entered the classroom.

“All right everyone, settle down. I know you all probably want to catch up with each other after the summer but there’ll be plenty of time to do that at lunch. Now let’s start on the roll, shall we?”

The teacher pulled out her phone and started reading from it.

“Lucy Anderson?”

“Present.”

“Bow Archer?”

Adora snorted quietly and Bow gave her a bemused look. “Present,” he answered and stuck his tongue out at her.

 _Bow_ Archer? _Really?_ What was it with Etheria people and weird names?

“Fred Baldwin?”

“Here.”

“Rachel Barden?”

“Here.”

“Glimmer Brightmoon?”

Brightmoon? But wait…wasn’t that—

Adora turned to look at Glimmer. She glanced nervously at Adora before calling out “Present!”

“Glimmer. Are you related to—” Adora started to whisper but Glimmer cut her off.

“Our principal Angella Brightmoon? Unfortunately.” Glimmer made a face. “She’s my _mom_. It doesn’t help that my dad and my aunt both teach here either. Plus Ms. Spinerella and Ms. Netossa have been family friends for so long it’s like an extra set of aunts watching out for me all the time. _Not to mention_ the fact that the whole fucking school is named after my great grandfather who basically _founded_ it!”

Adora blinked. “Wow. That’s...a lot of family in one place.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. Etheria is a small town. Why do you think I can’t wait to _leave?”_

The rest of the class passed without any more discoveries thankfully. Adora was surprised to find that Ms. Netossa was actually a pretty interesting teacher and she made Geography a little less boring. Plus she had Glimmer and Bow to turn and talk to whenever she started to drift off.

Before she even knew it, The class was over and everyone was packing their bags to move on to the next one.

Glimmer held out a hand. “Can I see your time-table?”

Adora rummaged around in her bag for a bit before she eventually came across it and handed it over.

Glimmer scanned the sheet carefully. “Your next classes are science with my dad, Mr. Micah, in room 104 and then business studies with my aunt, Ms. Castaspella, in room 67. Oh look! We have the same homeroom!” She handed the page back to Adora. “Everyone normally has break in their homeroom and lunch later on in the cafeteria. We can introduce you to the rest of our friends then if you want?” 

Adora was surprised. She knew she and Glimmer had gotten along well but she hadn't expected her to suddenly introduce her to the rest of her group. She couldn't help but wonder how many other friends Glimmer had and if they would be as eager as she was to accept the new girl into their ranks. 

But nonetheless Adora smiled and kept her concerns to herself. “Yeah, that would be really nice, thanks.”

Glimmer shouldered her neon pink bag and waved as she started walking out the door. “Great! We’ll see you then!”

“Adora?” a voice called from the top of the classroom. Adora looked up and realised it was Ms. Netossa. “You’re Adora right? Sorry if I got it wrong, there’s so many names to remember these years that it’s kind of hard to keep them all straight all of the time.”

Adora approached her desk at the top of the room carefully. “Uh, no. You got it right.”

The teacher breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. You see, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. As well as being a music teacher, my wife Ms. Spinerella also doubles up as the school guidance councillor. We just want to make sure you’re settling in alright. I understand that you’re new and things can be weird and confusing when you change schools.”

Adora felt a little awkward. She’d never really been one to talk about her problems with people that weren’t her friends. She shrugged. “Well, it’s only my first day but I think I’m doing alright.”

Ms. Netossa smiled. “That’s good to hear. I won’t keep you any longer now, I know you have other classes to attend. If you ever have any trouble with anything, feel free to come talk to me or my wife in her office, Room 54. That’s all.”

Adora nodded and started to make her way across towards the door when Ms. Netossa called her back. “And Adora!” She turned around to face the teacher.

Ms. Netossa smiled. “Welcome to Etheria.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. Our first chapter with like...real plot to it. 
> 
> I have to say, the phenomenon of getting up to go for a forty five minute run at six in the morning is a strange one for me only because I think my heart would literally combust if I tried it (I can barely go for a fifteen minute one at like seven o' clock in the evening _for God's sake_ ) but in a family containing two she-ras and one hardcore she-ra trainer, I think it fits them. 
> 
> And with (Light) Hope being ex-military in this fic, I get the feeling that people not being neat and orderly and on time really irks her because it's so against what she has ingrained into her own mind of what is acceptable. Plus I think the reason she likes to keep such a tight schedule is because when she was younger and in the foster system it was a lot of chaos, confusion and moving around, so her way to cope was to keep a strict routine to try and regain some order and control to her life. She included Mara in that schedule of course seeing as she was her older sister and felt responsible for her and her upbringing. Mara went along with it for the most part to stop Hope from constantly worrying and nagging her but she was more of a free spirit (embracing the chaos and riding with the wave instead of against it) and they did clash over it at times but as they got older they learned to respect each other more.
> 
> Why am I writing so much, you ask? Because I'd like to give some depth and layers to Hope and Mara and this information is probably never going to show up in the actual fic so I figured I'd lay it down here. I basically want to keep the same traits that they have in canon (like Light Hope's rigidness/wanting to stick to any and all rules) and give them realistic reasons for them based on their backgrounds and history. Whether I succeed in doing that is another question but at least it's what I'm trying to do.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, hit that kudos button ~~why do I feel like a Youtuber someone please send help~~ and maybe leave a comment! Rumour has it you can hear my inhumane screeches of delight from anywhere in the world if you do...


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